Not having had enough of D.C. yesterday, we repeated our commute, rail trip and endurance hiking to visit the Smithsonian Castle and the Air & Space Museum. During our trudge from the Metro station to the Smithsonian, we happened to pop into the close-by Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian. Both galleries had some paintings of ugly people but also ancient pottery and gold items, sculptures, coins and other artifacts which were great to see. We ducked into these two galleries in hope of finding a dry way through to the Smithsonian Castle because it was raining. Although unsuccessful at finding a dry path, we did enjoy the terrific exhibits in these two galleries. The Sackler has a big exhibit about an American artist named Whistler who seemed somewhat creative but suffered from being an incurable deadbeat who shirked debt, screwed folks out of promised works and was generally an asshole according to his dearest former friend and shafted patron with the last name of Leyland.
We exited these galleries and took the very wet hike to the Smithsonian Castle which we found out was only a visitor center for folks who want to visit the dozen or so other museums all collected under the name. The visitor center had a gift shop with stuff like bobble-head Einsteins and expensive earrings, a restaurant we elected to forgo and lots of screaming children anxious to go curse the visitors to the museums. From this unmuseumlike place we emerged into a pretty substantial rainstorm, headed for the Air & Space Museum a few furlongs away. Fortunately for us, we were able to enjoy the benefits of Federal security precautions by being forced to stand for quite a while in the rain outside the museum while dutiful security personnel made sure none of the citizens entering the museum had any nasty things hidden in their backpacks, enormous purses or shopping bags full of D.C. memorabilia which had been carefully crafted by the best Chinese artisans. Needless to say, we were damp when we finally made it into the museum but the place is definitely worth it. There are exhibits which range from stuff about drag and lift, ancient Leonardo De Vinci flying machines which would absolutely not fly, the Wright Brothers, early bi- and tri-planes, early propeller airplanes, jets, rockets and spacecraft including a big section on the unmanned Viking program my Dad worked on at Jet Propulsion Labs. We were in here for hours and we still did not see it all. They also have a McDonald’s restaurant inside the building where you can get a very thin hamburger for about $10.
We finally left the Air & Space Museum and took a damp stroll to the light rail system for a ride to the other end of the Mall to see the White House. Of course the train delivered us to a station that was only about a half mile from the edge of the Ellipse in front of the White House. From there it is several long blocks to where you can get a glimpse of the Executive Mansion and that is about all. Security forces have the taxpayers fenced off from the White House such that if you get in just the right place, you can see a little segment of the front of the building. For us to get a picture here was difficult because the little postage stamp sized area where you could see Barack’s current digs was infested with impolite foreign visitors who would not step aside long enough for citizens to take a photo of their President’s pad. After some bullying by me, I was able to get some of the ferners dislodged from their camping spots long enough to snap a few shots of the White House and a selfie of Peg and me standing in front of the distant building. After giving the newly relocated foreign language speakers an All American leer, I grabbed Peg and we skulked off from the area in search of a Metro stop so we could board the light rail for the ride home. After about a mile or so, we arrived at McPherson Square where there was supposed to be a Metro Station. Unfortunately for us, only locals can find the Metro Station in this area because it is cleverly concealed inside the basement of a building which is near but not in McPherson Square.
We hustled down the escalator which was not functioning and entered the catacombs of the Metro. After a few minutes, we realized D.C. signage is designed by the same persons who create the mystifying Virginia signage because we were directed to the correct train but it was going in the wrong direction. After figuring out how to traverse the underground construction within the tombs of the Metro, we made it to the portion of the station where we needed to be to get back to the Franconia station. We were just in time because as soon as we got there, the Blue Line we needed to board was snafued by tunnel trolls and broke down due to undetermined voodoo. Some time later, a Blue Line train heading our way arrived but since there were delays in the system, all the folks upline who had also been waiting were already aboard the train but we were able to squish ourselves in for a long, stop-and-go stand-up ride back to Franconia. At arrival, we hobbled to the parking structure where the massive number of departing rail travelers promptly clogged up the exit lanes from the structure so everybody was treated to a protracted delay while idling and inhaling exhaust fumes. Several rail users found they had insufficient value on their not-so-smart transit cards to allow them to get through the exit gates and were flummoxed by having the gate refuse to allow them to exit and being equally screwed by being unable to back up and get out of the way due to the mass of idling cars behind them trapped by the volume of clever rail commuters. There is no provision for human interference since the system is unmanned to maintain cost-effectiveness. Machines to allow you to purchase sufficient value to get the gates to allow egress are cleverly located back in the rail station.
After a moderate delay, we were finally able to leave the parking structure for another 16 mile 40 minute commute back to the Invader. This experience has clearly shown me the benefits of metropolitan mass transit, particularly the form where meddlesome human interference is eliminated along with practicality and efficiency. Perhaps the intent of this system is to eliminate system delays through the murder of the fellow urban users.